FreightCar America Castaños, Mexico manufacturing plant. (FCA Photograph)

For FCA, 1,250 Railcars Ordered in 1Q25

FreightCar America (FCA) on April 24 reported receiving orders totaling 1,250 freight railcars, valued at approximately $141 million, during first-quarter 2025.

(Photograph by William C. Vantuono)

ARCI 1Q Freight Cars: Orders Up but Deliveries, Backlog Down

Overall freight railcar orders in first-quarter 2025 increased by 13%, but deliveries fell 22% from fourth-quarter 2024, according to the latest Railway Supply Institute (RSI) American Railway Car Institute Committee (ARCI) report. Backlog dipped 8% sequentially.

CPKC Site Ready Program locations. (Image Courtesy of CPKC)

CPKC Brings On Line Nine New Certified Sites

The first nine locations on Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s (CPKC) North American network have been certified as “Site Ready” as part of a new program that the railroad said “transforms underutilized land

Left to Right: Rich Schaefer of HNTB Corporation (HNTB Photograph), and Thomas J. Taffe of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department (Marc A. Hermann / MTA Photograph).

People News: Rail Vision, HNTB, NYMTA

Israel-based technology company Rail Vision Ltd. appoints David BenDavid as CEO. Also, New Jersey Transit (NJT) veteran Rich Schaefer is rejoining infrastructure firm HNTB Corporation as Program Manager; and Thomas J. Taffe is tabbed for Chief of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department (MTAPD).

Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive 765, owned and operated by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Railroad Society, made its annual journey to Independence, Ohio, on April 22. (Screen Grab from Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Railroad Society video)

Watch: No. 765 Returns to the Valley

Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive No. 765 has returned to Independence, Ohio, for the Steam in the Valley event, to be held April 25-27 and May 2-4 by nonprofit host Cuyahoga Valley

(BNSF Photograph)

AAR: U.S. Rail Traffic Up for Week 16

Total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending April 19, 2025 (Week 16) was up 4.5% from the prior-year period, with gains in both carloads and intermodal volume, according to the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) latest report.

Darryl Perry, a CPKC locomotive engineer in Sparwood, B.C., Canada, is one of the 200-plus “CPKC Hypermilers” who the railroad said “use their ‘feel’ for a locomotive and in-depth local knowledge, coupled with fuel-efficient strategies, to operate trains safely while reducing excess fuel burn.” (Screen Grab from CPKC Video)

Class I Briefs: CSX, CSX/NS/UP, NS, CPKC

CSX inspires students at its second-annual Innovation Day. Also, CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS), Union Pacific (UP) and The Greenbrier Companies rank on USA Today’s America’s Climate Leaders 2025 list; NS crews connect its main line to the future Scout Motors EV manufacturing plant in South Carolina; and Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s (CPKC) Hypermiler program helps locomotive engineers to use less fuel.

(Wabtec Illustration)

Wabtec: ‘Strong’ 1Q25 Results, Full-Year EPS Guidance Increase

Wabtec Corporation “started the year strong, delivering over 20% in earnings per share growth and highlighting the continued business momentum across both the Freight and Transit segments,” President and CEO Rafael Santana

Pictured, Left to Right: Gary Lada, Harsco Rail, a division of Enviri Corporation; Jim Umpleby, Caterpillar; Joe Creed, Caterpillar; and Jon Mudronja, AITX. (Photographs courtesy of the respective organizations)

People News: Harsco Rail, Caterpillar, AITX

Leadership changes have been announced at track maintenance-of way and services supplier Harsco Rail; Progress Rail parent company Caterpillar Inc.; and railcar lessor American Industrial Transport, Inc. (AITX).

The 25th annual Special Olympics Regional Cycling competition will be held April 26 on the campus of BNSF headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photograph Courtesy of BNSF)

Class I Briefs: BNSF, NS

BNSF and Special Olympics Texas celebrate 25 years of partnership. Also, Norfolk Southern’s (NS) customer SA Recycling is growing capacity in Georgia and grant award honoree Friends of the Lower Appomattox River works to remove invasive plants and improve forest health in Virginia.

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